Monday, June 29, 2009

One of the most interesting demos I attended at the Food & Wine Classic, starred Top Chef contestant Richard Blais, who partnered with McCormick for a "Flavor Forecast 2009." The theme was new spice/flavor trends, and our morning started off with one such combo; a smoked paprika and agave nectar margarita.

Note to anyone planning an early morning cooking demo: start with a strong margarita. As we sipped the spicy, yet delicious breakfast-of-tequila-loving champions, Blais went on to describe the dish he was preparing. We were about to taste lamb ribs braised with root beer and toasted sesame.As he explained his thought process for matching these ingredients, and the cooking methods he uses in his kitchen to achieve the best results, he made it clear he does not like the term "molecular gastronomist." He said it sounds soulless, and too clinical. Fair enough.

He then went on to use the term at least a half-dozen times during the demo. I'm not sure if this was done tongue-in-cheek, or if there just isn’t a decent term that's synonymous, but either way, I was amused.This video recipe is my version of the spiky-haired chef's dish. I used easy-to-find lamb shoulder chop steaks instead of Colorado lamb ribs, which were quite delicious, but maybe a bit hard to track down.As far as the root beer and toasted sesame glaze goes, when I first heard it, I have to admit it didn't strike me as a great combination, but at the end of the demo, as I sat eating the tender lamb with the sweet, aromatic, nutty sauce, I was a believer.As if the lamb, root beer, and toasted sesame combination wasn't different enough, Blais served it with a coleslaw ice cream. That's right, he used the sweet, tangy juices from a traditional coleslaw recipe, and with the help of liquid nitrogen, he created a surprisingly delicious frozen side dish.

I'll try and figure out how to make it without the chemistry set, since I'd love to show you that video recipe also. It was a strange and wonderful combination. Enjoy!

As a chemist, I can attest that ice cream made with liquid nitrogen is impressive because, not only is it flashy, but the nitrogen cools down the ice cream so quickly that ice crystals are less likely to form, resulting in a smoother ice cream.However the same recipe should be fine to use in a regular ice cream maker, it just might not turn out quite so wonderfully smooth.

Hey Chef John, Well after some experiments in my youth you _might_ be able to achieve the same results as liquid nitrogen by using dry ice and a high alcohol content spirit. Nope, haven't tried that with cooking though, just tennis balls, flowers etc. Tennis balls were nice & crisp though :-)

hey chef john, i've been following for a while in Australia, and no-one here seems to know what root beer is... i've looked for it to no avail. have you got any ideas on anything i could substitute with the root beer??

Hi Chef, this looks fantastic. I was wondering about the reduced sodium soy sauce... Would using normal soy sauce work? I've yet to try any reduced soy sauce that didn't taste like it came out of the backend of a Buick.

Thanks again for another awesome recipe. Entire family enjoyed it, especially my picky 2.5 y/o. Do you have a delicious boneless leg of lamb recipe that is fork tender you can share? My hubby bought some from Cosco and he thinks I can now cook "all things lamb" now that I found you (he loved all your lamb recipes that I've done: this one, the slow braised shanks, and the pomegranate lamb lol). Please help, pressure is on :-)

Chef John! Here's a newbie problem: I bought "boneless lamb shoulder roast" when it was on sale and I copied that title word for word from the packaging. Can I slice the roast into inch-thick pieces and use them in this recipe? Or can I sear the whole thing and braise it in the same liquid? Is there something better I can do with "boneless lamb shoulder roast"?